Holy Bible Online 
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1
Life is made up of many different experiences and emotions. Ecclesiastes 3 explains that there are moments of joy and sadness, surprise and disappointment, success and failure. Things, and even people, change, pass, and transform. No situation lasts forever. In life, everything is temporary.
But there is one thing that never changes: God. The Lord is always constant, every day, for all eternity! He is the only one who does not fail. When we place our trust in the things of this world, we will be disappointed, but we can fully trust in God. He is faithful!
Without God, all of life’s experiences are meaningless, without reason or hope. But when we trust in the Lord, we find value in our experiences and can appreciate the life He has given us.
Reflection on There Being a Time for Everything
There is a right time for every experience. For example, a newborn baby needs to grow a bit before they can eat solid food. Similarly, there is a proper occasion for each phase of life.
Often, we want everything immediately or rush things without waiting for the right time. This is not wise. Building a house on sand is quicker than building on rock, but the foundation is not solid.
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.
- Proverbs 14:29
This verse reminds us of the value of patience and understanding in our lives. Embracing the right timing allows us to build a stronger foundation for our experiences, leading to a more fulfilling and resilient life. Trusting in God’s timing helps us appreciate each phase and grow through our journeys.
If we rush our steps, starting things for which we are not prepared, we may go through much suffering. For example, many people have unhappy marriages because they did not wait for the right time until they were ready for marriage.
It is very important to seek to live according to God’s timing for our lives. He knows what is best for us. Waiting for God’s timing teaches us patience, self-control, and balance.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
- 2 Peter 3:8
When we wait for the right time, we discover a special joy in the things that God gives us.
A Hope That Is Not Temporary
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
- Proverbs 10:28
In this life, moments of sadness, pain, and suffering will pass. The temporary joys of this world are also fleeting. But in Jesus, we have an eternal promise: at the right time, Jesus will return to judge the world and take the saved to Heaven.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Romans 15:13
In Heaven, there will be no more suffering. We will finally have eternal joy, together with God! Everything ends, but the word of Jesus never passes away.
I said to myself,“God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
The complete chapter of Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
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